Category Archives: My Favorite Nude

In the time since we started this blog I have posted exactly one nude manicure, haha. On my own, I was never really drawn to nudes; I’d see a bottle and go eh, lemme grab this more exciting color next to it! But since Mel gave us the “My Favorite Nude” group topic, and since seeing all the lovely shades she and Sandy have posted, I’ve started to come around. I’ve been on a quest for one that suited me and while I’m still working towards that “favorite”, I thought I better start sharing some of my runner up finds 🙂

Mel had spoken so fondly of her Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro polishes that when I saw Bare Naked on a sale rack, I figured it was probably a good bet and scooped it up. Then last night when I decided to go to a Hanson show at a local venue, I saw a good opening to use it. (Yes, you remember them as tweens from the 90’s with long hair and a Grammy for Mmmbop haha, they done grown up!) I’ve been a pretty solid fan since their Underneath album in 2003, and you know I love any reason for a theme mani, so I wanted to do something with the Hanson logo, but not too over the top.

I have to say, I’m appreciating Bare Naked’s nice peachy tone and subtle shimmer. It does look nice on me. And I really enjoyed the concert last night 🙂 To read why the formula is keeping this from being My Favorite Nude, to see a macro (and even to hear a little new school Hanson) hit the jump 😛

Innocence is a very demure peach color. And I love it. Due to the peachness of the polish, it’s not exactly sheer, which is why I like it better than Mademoiselle. It gives you a very neutral color, without having a visible nail line. The first coat does go on super thin, however, so you’ll definitely need three coats to avoid bald spots and visible streaks. I don’t really know what else to say about this. I love it, and I may need to get a back up bottle since I think it’s going to be my go-to color in between my “wild” manicures 🙂

When the group topic of favorite nudes came up, I quite honestly balked at the idea – I wasn’t even sure I OWNED anything thing that could qualify let alone had a favorite. Since “the dog ate my blog post” isn’t really an acceptable excuse, I decided to at least see what I had to work with.

Surprisingly I found one; somewhere along the way I had picked up Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure in “Shall We Dance”.

Application was a bit tricky since my previous mani’s this week had left a few stained spots and if not coated thick enough, this polish is a little see through. I ended up with a 4 coater, but didn’t hate the results. It’s a rather balmy light pink, but it was a little NQR on me. (That’s “not quite right” and my mother’s favorite abbreviation for those that don’t know haha) To style it a little more my own but still stay in the nudes theme I added 1 super thick coat of Sally Girl 812028 on my ring finger. Good news is, even with all these coats, Seche Vita dried it up in a reasonable time 🙂

Turns out the expected for most people is unexpected on me, and the concept kinda started to win me over….

To build on Sandy’s My Favorite Nude post from earlier today, I thought this can be our first Varnish Clique theme!!

I used:
3 coats ESSIE Mademoiselle

I’m pretty sure I talked about Essie’s Mademoiselle for 3 days straight after the first time I wore it. It’s amazing. It’s one of Essie’s better formulas, and goes on smooth. Luckily, as a nude, it’s very forgiving when it comes to dings and chips. I didn’t even realize I had chipped it until I was inspecting my finger very closely.

As you can see from my (admittedly turrabil) picture, there is a visible nail line. But that’s ok. The point of this polish is to give a little shimmer and even out the color of your nail. Its great for a break from bold and bright colors, or for dressy occassions. As I told my co-worker, it’s my Oscars nail polish. As in, it’s what I’ll wear to accept my Best Actress Oscar one day 🙂

While on a mission to find the best nude for me (I’m warmer skin toned), I stumbled across this beauty in Rite Aid. After trying a bunch of Essies that were just OK or meh, I didn’t expect much from Sally Hansen. After all, when you think of Essie, you definitely think they’re going to do a sophisticated shade very very well and Sally Hansen is just known for being fairly solid all around.

I was soo pleasantly surprised. The application was so smooth, and there’s a slight shimmer to the nude color. It is perfect for me and so pretty! I knew as soon as I put it on that it was my new go-to nude for sure! I think this would fit other skin tones besides my own, it seems fairly versatile. Also, I didn’t mind the brush that so many complain about. With it being a nude color, any mistakes were forgiven as it blended with my skin.

I wore it in the office and got no compliments. That’s how you know your polish is office friendly. Granted, I work with a bunch of dudes but you know your polish is office friendly when your nails don’t draw any attention. 🙂